Shedding-motion for looms



I L. G. SABBAG. SHEDDING MOTION FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.27| I916- Patented May 11 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET L. G. SABBAG. SHEDDING MOTION FOR LOOMS. APPLICATION nusn NOV. 21, ms.

Patented May 11, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- 1a a 4. J 4111 1 L.J- .f

f 24 T737 1; I 20 3 5 33 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LITFALLAH G. SABBAG, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MAURICE A. METCALF,-OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHEDDING-MOTION FOR LOOMS.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed November 27, 1916. Serial No. 133,534.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L'LITFALLAH G. SABBAG, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shedding-Motions for Looms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a shedding motion for looms;

Heretofore variations in the operation of loom harness for the purpose of obtaining at intervals of a number of picks of the weft variations in the character of the shed have been secured by the employment of patterncontrolled devices predetermining a differ- I ent movement of theharness at the desired intervals, such as the many well-known kinds of dobby, Jacquard and chain-controlled harness motions. So far as I am aware, a common characteristic of all such devices has been complexity and multiplication of parts, with consequent expense and liability to disorder. I have now devised means for a pattern-controlled alteration of the disposition or movement of loom-harness characterized by mechanical simplicity, durability, and direct operation, and of such a nature that existing looms can be equipped with my new devices with little trouble and expense.

An object of my said invention is to provide a shedding motion adapted to hold idle during one or a predetermined plurality of picks a part of the warp. Other objects are to provide means for continuing the shedding motion of'one or more harnesses while suspending the shedding motion of one or more otherharnesses during'continuance of the picking motion, and to provide means for suspending, if desired, the operation of the cloth take-up means during a predetermined plurality of picks made during the shedding motion of a part only of the harness. Other objects are to secure the holding open of a shed in the part of the warp rendered idle, if desired, so that an accumulation of picks of wefts in the same open shed may be secured in thatpart of the warp controlled by the idle harness, during continued weaving of the same picks at another part of the warp controlled by the operating harness.

In order to illustrate my invention I shall herein describe one species only in connection with one form of loom and adapted for the production of a fabric characterized by cross-bars or cords formed of accumulated wefts, but it will be understood that my invention is independent of the particular constructions and adaptations to use selected for illustration, its true scope being defined in the appended claims.

. In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section on line 1-1 of Fig. 2, of a loom equipped with my new devices;

Fig.2 isfa fragmentary plan above the loom arch;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the pattern chain and connections to the take-up mechanism;

Figs. 4 and 5 are details showing a preferred form of mutable link pattern chain;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing forming a part of the driving train for the main elements of the loom, a cam shaft 15 is held in bearings in the side frames A. As usual, shaft 15 may rotate once to every two forward beats of the batten or lay B.

' Suitably mounted on the loom arch A, as in bracket bearings a bolted to the loom arch, a main shedding shaft 1 and an auxiliaryv or selvage shedding shaft 2 are provided. A gear 3 is keyed to the shaft 2, to mesh with a gear 4 loose on shaft 1. Gear is maintained in mesh with the gear 3 by mask disks 6 'on each face thereof.

Gear 4' is given an oscillating motion of 180 more or less by means actuated from the shaft 15, preferably as shown by a rack 5 having. a bearing at c in a forward extension ofbearing bracket a, said rack being attached to the upper part of a vertical rod 6 movablefin bracket bearings d, 03, mounted on suitable parts of the frame. and having at its lower end a horizontal projection 7 taking into a slot 8 in a treadle lever 9 pivoted at 10 on a suitable strut or stud mounted in the frame. A follower 11 on the treadle 9 extends into and is actuated by V ness.

' ding shaft 2 is constantly operated by the above-described means and may serve by means of the usual disks 17 to lift and lower alternately the straps 40 and heddle frames 41 comprising a constantly actuated har- The heddles 16 of this harness may carry any portion 20 of the warp desired to be shed constantly in respect to the picksof the shuttle and beats of the lay. For making a cross-barred muslin, tobacco tenting cloth, or the like, preferably this harness carries a suitable number of warps at each as the auxiliary harness. But it will be unders'tood that for many desirable patterns in the fabric adapted to be made without substantial change of the loom devices, se-

"lectedgroups of warps might be arranged gear 4 may be of any desired form, such as a hardened pin or pins 27 taking into a hole in heddles 16 in any desired distribution throughout the fabric. 7 y

The shaft 1 carries disks 1S and straps 42 for heddle frames 43 having therein heddles 19, and. comprising the main harness, in which heddles 19 all of the warps w not carried by the selvage harness 16 are threaded.

The device comprises means for ceasing the operation of the shaft 1 during the continuance of the operation of the shaft 2. Referring now to Fig. 2, the connection of the gear 4 to the shaft 1 is preferably by means of a clutch, preferably as shown through a clutch-collar 20 splined on said shaft 1,'so that when positioned as in said figure, the gear 4 is clutched to the shaft 1.

Clutch collar 20 is maintained in its engaged position by an actuator 22 pivoted at 23 on the loom arch A or an extension thereof, said actuator 22 comprising a pin 24 taking into a groove in said clutch collar and a depending lug 25 preferably in the vertical plane of the shaft 1. A spring 26,

" surrounding pivot 23 maintains the clutch collar in engagement with gear 4.

' The clutch faces between collar 20 and the 28 in the face of the gear.

The actuator 22 is worked by any suitable. pattern connection moving in time with the remainder of the loom, but I prefer the mechanism illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. As there shown, the shaft 1 extends outward beyond the bracket bearing a and the clutch collar 20, and serves to support loosely of the rectangular links. selvage only, and hereinafter 1s referred to" V as a cam for opening the clutch collar 20' thereon a sprocket wheel having attached In the form of the device shown lugs 35' on the side ofthe chain are employed to open or hold open the clutch by contact with the depending lug 25 of the actuator 22.

As illustrated in Figs. 4 and5, the chain may be of the simple hook and. open rectangular link form shown, the lugs 35 being cast integrally with or attached to' the sides 7 The leading lug 35 of the series may be beveled at e to serve and following lugs 35 are of a height to maintain the clutch open during the desired interval of time. V

In order toactuate the ratchet 31 and chain 34, any suitable means may be employed, but I prefer the arrangement shown in which the vertical rod 6 terminates in a ll-shaped casting 29 on one arm of which the rack 5 is formed, the other arm having 7 a vertical face 7 upon which a hooked pawl 36 is pivoted at 37'to swing inward under stress of a spring 38 as am as determined by a stop pin 39.

open during as many beats of the" lay and openings and. closings of the shed in the 7 It is desirable to avoid idling the main shedding shaft 1 without also holding the shed open in order to prevent destruction of the warps by the shuttle during the laying of'the'desired number of picks to form an accumulation of weft or cord. I'may, as shown in Flg. 1, provide the main harness 19, 42, 43, with means for holding the shed open in one direction whenever the shaft lisreleased. As shown, this means may comprise harness springs 45 for one heddle frame4'3 stronger than the harness spring 46 for the other heddle frame 43 of the main harness. e

But my device is independent of spring selvage warps as desired, as measured by the number of adjacent links of the chain pro-' vided with lugs 35.

operated harness. I may with any known form of harness connection employ any suitable means for locking the shaft 1 at one extreme of its oscillation, such for instance as the means illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein the clutch collar 20 is shown as provided with a pin on its outer face adapted to contact with an arm 51 fast on the loom arch A. The arrangement may be such as to cause the clutch collar to be thrown to the position illustrated at the end of the upper stroke of the rack 5 and casting 29, the pin 50 engaging beneath the arm 51 before the pin 27 wholly releases the gear 41- on this stroke.

For the indicated purpose, it is desirable to stop the cloth take-up at such times as the shed is suspended and the warps controlled by the main harness. During the desired number of picks, the weft then accumulated will be beaten into a firm cord in the open shed. Any desirable form of connection to the take-up mechanism may be employed. I have herein illustrated one form comprising a bell-crank lever pivoted on a shoulder screw 61 fast to the loom arch A or an attachment thereof, said lever having a vertical arm 62 bent forward as shown to take against the lug 25, or other suitable part of actuator 22 and having a horizontal arm 63 from which a wire connection 64 leads to a bell crank 65 at any suitable place on the frame, another wire tension connection 66 extending therefrom to the actuating pawl 67 of the take-up ratchet 68. The connection 66 may comprise any usual or convenient arrangement of levers, tension or compression members necessary to relieve a take-up pawl such as pawl 67 but in another position from that shown, from contact with its ratchet, and the connection 66 may as well be to an actuator for such a pawl as the pawl 67 in lieu of being a direct connection to the awl, as shown. In either case, whenever the clutch collar 20 is opened to cease shedding the warp in the main harness the cloth take-up is also rendered idle.

The operation of my device will now be apparent to skilled weavers. The chain 3a being made up of any desired alternation of plain links and links having lugs 35, plain fabric will be woven, except when lugs 35 are opposite the lug 25,.during which times the main harness will be idle with the shed held open, and at each pick another weft thread will be added to an accumulation forming a weft cord. But these accumulated wefts are interwoven at such parts of the warp as are carried by the selvage harness, the weft thereby being held at the margins of the fabric and not being pulled out of the open shed which it.has just traversed in the opposite direction at a previous pick.

If warps distributed through the fabric are carried by heddles 16 of the auxiliary harness, weaving will go forward as usual at these places, except when the operation of the cloth take-up is prevented, and fabrics of pleasing types of pattern may be woven by this means. If the take-up is permitted to operate, spots of woven fabric may be formed alternating with spots or bars of wefts passing unwoven in a shed of the warps.

While I have illustrated my invention in connection with a simple form in which there are but two shedding shafts 1 and 2, it will be understood without further description that the shaft 2 might be geared to other shafts carrying harness moving in an opposite sense, and that'in some cases the shaft 1 might be duplicated or both shafts 1 and 2 duplicated, or that duplicate shafts l geared together and controlled by the same clutch might be employed, or that independent pattern chains similar to the chain 34.- and means for actuating such chains might be provided for additional and independent shafts 1 and other variations made without departure from my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A loom having shedding means comprising a plurality of shafts connected to a similar plurality of harnesses whereby oscillation of a shaft opens a shed in a respective part of the warp, gearing connecting said shafts, and means for continuously imparting a to-and-fro motion to the gear ing, in combination with means for clutching and unclutching a shaft from the gearing whereby to render its harness idle.

2. A loom having a plurality of normally oscillated shafts and harnesses adapted to be operated thereby, a gear train having an element on each shaft, a clutch adapted to engage and disengage one of said shafts from the gear thereon, and means for holding said shaft in a position in which its harness opens the shed controlled thereby when the clutch is disengaged.

3. A loom having a plurality of normally oscillated shafts and harnesses adapted to be controlled severally thereby, gearing normally connecting said shafts for oscillation in unison, reciprocating means driven from a rotary element of the loom for constantly oscillating the connected shafts, a clutch device normally fixing one of said shafts to the gears connecting them, and a mutable pattern surface and devices pattern-controlled thereby for disengaging said clutch during a predetermined plurality of reciprocations of said reciprocating means whereby to render idle the harness controlled by the disengaged shaft during operation of the harness controlled vby the 7 operating shaft.

4. A shedding device for looms comprising harnesses, oscillating shafts connected respectively thereto, means for normally oscillating said shafts in nnison comprising gearing between said shafts, a reciprocating rack, a treadle for operating said rack, and a cam on a rotary part for operating said treadle, in combination with, means for disconnecting one of said shafts from said gearing during operation of another shaft and its harness and means for maintaining the harness controlled by the disconnected shaft in open-shed position.

5. A shedding motion attachment for looms comprising bearings adapted to be ding shafts therein, a gear train having a member on each shaft, a reciprocating actuator for said gear train adapted to be driven from a rotary part of the loom,land means for disconnecting oneof said shafts from said gear train comprising a clutch between said gear and shaft, a pattern chain mounted for rotation on said shaft, an actuator adapted to be moved by said chain for controlling said clutch, and means for advancing the chain step by step.

' Signed by me at Boston, B/Iassachiisetts, this eighteenth day of November, 1916.

LITFALLAH G. SABBAG. 

